Search and Seizure
by crystal.paines
Summary: My friends were all jealous that I had the perfect boyfriend. No one understood that I never got to make any choices. You try having a boyfriend who's terrified of your apparantly teenage mindreading dad. Nessie/Jake
1. Truth or Dare

**Search and Seizure**

by crystal.paines

Author's Note: There's more at the bottom...Nessie/Jake goodness. Rated for drinking and fluff.

Disclaimer: I'm just playing with Stephanie Meyers' characters.

* * *

"Truth or dare?"

I sighed, fiddling with the plastic cup in my hand. My friends had assured me the vodka would taste better with something else. Too bad they didn't exactly have my choice of mixer at this innocent high school party.

Okay, so maybe innocent was the wrong word. There were plenty of couples hidden in corners, and a few who had found empty rooms. Not to mention our little game, heated by one too many drinks (at least for everyone else) and a few hits.

I guess when you grow up with an extended family of vampires, madly in love parents and a werewolf boyfriend, innocent is a relative term.

Being here tonight was daring enough. Jake was running with Seth, removing boyfriend and babysitter in one sweep. My parents, as I knew from unfortunate experience, would be wrapped up in each other (and possibly the furniture) until the sun came up and they had to throw on a human façade to attend class at the college across town.

"Truth."

The question came out in a fit of tipsy giggles. "How big's your boyfriend?"

"And your brother!" called another girl, sprawled across the lap of a guy I didn't recognize.

My cheeks turned bright red. They all thought I had an incredibly hot older brother. They didn't realize that it was really my incredibly taken father. Hazards of having parents who look the same age as you do.

I wanted to tell them to stop hitting on my dad.

"Eeeew, I don't know!" I took another swallow of vodka, praying this one would actually do something other than make me want to gag. "He's my brother!"

"How about your boyfriend?" one of the guys called. "He seems…large."

"I…" How do you tell your friends that, halfway through junior year, you're still a virgin because your boyfriend has some misplaced fears about doing things in the wrong order and is deathly afraid of your father? "Jake…I don't know."

The guy sitting behind me wrapped an arm around my waist. "Next time leave the lights on, baby." I sighed, leaning into his shoulder.

It was supposed to be so easy, this imprinting thing. My friends were all jealous that I had the perfect boyfriend. We'd moved smoothly from childhood friends to dating, and my parents (mostly) approved. They didn't understand that it wasn't like I had ever had a choice. Just like I'd never had a choice about looking any older than seventeen, ever. I'd never really had any choices.

I missed the next dare, but it wasn't hard to figure out. Though I'd never seen one before, body shots are unmistakable. I watched as the girl, giggling madly, lay back as some cocky guy laid sloppy kisses across her skin. As he moved his lips upwards, she wound her fingers through his blond hair, drawing him closer.

And for a second, I was almost…jealous.

Unfortunately, I missed the part about it being my turn. For a second, I froze, my already quick heartbeat picking up speed. Jake would kill me. If my parents didn't get to me first.

On the other hand…

No matter how you spun it, I was already fucked. Besides, I was curious. The only person I'd ever kissed was Jake, who refused to do anything more than casual pecks and hand holding.

Come on. My parents get to have literally earth-shaking sex on a nightly basis, and I get a peck on the lips. Where's the justice in that?

Plus, thanks to living with a bunch of psychics, Uncle Jazz had tipped off Mom when it was time to have 'The Talk'. And believe me when I say, they don't cover the half of it in Sex Ed. Chlamydia was the least of my parents' worries.

The lips that brushed their way up my stomach felt…nice. The bottom of my stomach fluttered and my muscles tightened. But that's all they were. Nice. Not mind-blowing. Not even mildly arousing.

If it had been Jake…

I could see him in my mind's eye. Growing up, he'd always walked around without a shirt on. So had Seth. Unfortunately, there had been new rules in the Cullen household since we'd moved to Fairbanks six months ago. Guess Mom had one of her talks with Jake. But I could still remember every inch of his smooth russet skin, the muscles on his back, the V that, if you followed it with your eyes, would lead down…

The lips on my stomach froze. Every muscle in my body tensed.

Shit.

I had been so careful, this whole time. And now, this poor guy was going to have an identity crisis, thanks to images of half-naked men popping into his head unprovoked.

Not that anyone should ever object to the image of a half-naked Jake.

I was jolted back into reality by an all too familiar voice.

"Ness?"

Holy shit.

I should have heard his footsteps approaching, but I definitely heard them beginning to walk away. He didn't walk like most people do, or even like my soundless, too-graceful family. I'd heard his padded footsteps since before I was born, could recognize the way his weight shifted just slightly as he took a step.

Narrowly avoiding the boy who leaned, still stunned, over my bare stomach, I flew to my feet. The vodka sloshed in my stomach, barely absorbed by my inhuman system. I ignored it. Dimly, I was aware that I was moving just a little too fast through the dark party. Hopefully everyone would be too drunk to notice.

I couldn't ignore the whispers.

"Is that her boyfriend?"

"He _is_ huge!"

"Think she's in trouble?"

"Jake!" I caught him at the door, putting my hand on his lower back. "Jake."

He stopped, his hand on the doorknob. "Edward knows you're gone." He didn't answer my unspoken question.

The hair on the back of my neck prickled, aware that the sober-ish half of the party was eavesdropping on our conversation. Because I had never touched a guy anyone else was interested in, never stood in anyone's way to anyone (other than my dad), I was the one who always picked up the pieces for them. Guess I wouldn't be getting the same courtesy.

His cheek felt soft in my hand as I turned his face down to mind, showing him the midnight sky, asking him to leave the party with me, just to talk. I barely saw the image that I projected into his head. My eyes were filled with the hurt he could hardly hide on his face.

Cold rarely affected me, especially around Jake. Tonight, I was shivering. I followed him down the road a little ways. He didn't let me touch him again until we were out of sight of the house, under the shadow of a group of big pines.

He still didn't look at me. "Jake?" I bit my lip. "Jake, I promise…I'm sorry…I…"

"Don't." I had never heard his voice that harsh before. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I never thought…" He fell silent.

"Thought what Jake? That I might do something stupid and reckless and…normal?" The liquid in my stomach sloshed again, a painful reminder. I touched his back lightly, but he flinched away from my hand.

"I should get you home. Edward's not too happy you're gone."

I laughed, mangling the sound so it was anything but carefree. "I don't care about Dad. Jake I'm so, so sorry."

"You don't understand do you?" There was anger seeping into his voice, breaking out of the restrictive hold he had on it. Jake was never angry at me. "I would do anything for you. Anything if it made you happy. Why didn't you tell me if this was really what you wanted? Why did you wait for me to walk in with you and that…that…" There seemed to be no words to encompass his fury.

Growing up in a houseful of indestructible family members does not exactly contribute to emotional control. Especially when you're the weakest one in the house.

"You stupid dog!" I was angry and sick and upset and it felt damn good to finally yell at someone. "I did tell you. But you just said it wasn't safe, it wasn't a good idea." I poked my finger into the middle of his chest, making him fall back slightly. "You don't want me to do anything unsupervised." I punctuated each accusation with another prod, forcing him further and further off the road. "You don't want me to be friends with other guys. You don't even like any of my friends, you'd rather I just hang out with the pack all day. You just give me every little thing I ask for, and never wonder what it is I really _want_." My voice broke off with a wail.

"Well, what do you want?" It was an accusation, more than a question.

"I don't ever get to make any choices!" I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to articulate what the hell was going through my head. "Aren't I supposed to be making mistakes right now? Jake, I don't even PMS."

He winced. The magic words never failed on any male, human or no.

"I can't do drugs because they don't work. I can't piss my parents off with random tattoos or piercings because they have yet to invent anything that will make a bellybutton ring go through my skin. You and Seth have kept me from all the partying, all the drinking. And I'm practically the only person in the junior class who's still a virgin!"

He froze. I kept going anyway, too angry to care about his prudishness now.

"I can't even sneak away to have sex with my boyfriend –or anyone else- because you're scared of Mom and Dad and have some stupid moral thing on top of that. Between Seth, who's afraid of you, and you being terrified of Dad, I'm going to be a sober boring virgin for_ever_ which, in case you hadn't noticed, is going to be a really, really long time."

It was a good thing we were so far out in the woods. Otherwise, after all the yelling I was doing, I'd never be able to face any of my friends on Monday morning.

There was a lot of silence. While I stood and fumed, making sure Jake felt every bit of it, his face fell. It was like the look on his face when I'd fallen as a kid, or hadn't wanted to go hunting. When I hurt, he hurt a hundred times worse.

I snatched my hand back from his arm. He looked down at where my hand had gripped his skin for a moment, before he spoke quietly.

"I never phased in front of people, never, not even when Bella…" He didn't finish the thought. "But I almost phased in the middle of that party. I wanted to tear that guy off you, I wanted to k…" He didn't need to finish that one.

"Kill him?"

He didn't have to say anything.

"Jake, you can't just kill anyone who looks at me wrong." The words fell, inadequate and inappropriate, into the awkwardness that had suddenly appeared between us.

"Doesn't mean I can't want to," he growled. He looked down at his big hands that had so often held mine, reached out to give me more and more of himself. The words didn't have to come out of his mouth for me to know they were there. The undeniable possessiveness he had always had for me said it all, even before he'd told me about the imprinting, before he'd ever asked me out, cementing what we'd both known all along.

I was a horrible, selfish person.

"I'm sorry," I repeated. My anger began to dissipate under the load of overwhelming guilt. Slowly, I reached out to wrap my arms around his waist. He stiffened, but he let me hold him, my head resting on his back, breathing in his familiar scent. The muscles in his back and stomach rose and fell under my body as he breathed.

"I love you." His chest vibrated, and I felt the words, more than I heard them. My arms loosened and he turned so we were face to face.

"God, Jake." I buried my face in his shirt. "You're so dense sometimes."

I gently touched his mind with the ill-fated body shot. Every muscle in his body shuddered under my hands as I briefly touched on the lips that sloppily kissed my stomach. And then they tensed very differently as I lingered over the images that had been inadvertently shared with that poor ignorant human.

"I love you Jake." I murmured the words at the same time as I showed him exactly what I meant. "Forget my parents, forget that guy. This is about you and me." I showed him something completely different. This time, I didn't need to say anything.

The cold was burned away as, with a low groan, he pulled me closer to his body, wrapping around me until I was surrounded by heat, by smooth limbs and wanting lips. Always so restrained, my Jake. If I had known that a little provocation was all it took to make him forget any fear of my father, any fear of driving me away, I would have done this much sooner.

Far out of range of my prying dad, I had imagined what it would be like, kissing Jake like this. My imagination hadn't done it justice.

It was not a gentle kiss, or even a sweet kiss. His lips were hard against mine, and I matched every ounce of his strength. My shirt was still riding up from the ill-fated body shot and his hands were fire on my icy stomach. The fire spread as his hands moved, spreading through my whole body.

The vodka hadn't worked but this, this was senselessness. This was inhibition and caution and sense being thrown to the winds, replaced by pure sensation, raw need.

And then he pulled away, leaving me panting and empty-handed and aching for him.

"Edward…" he began.

Furious, I grabbed his wrist, shoving every second of that kiss back into his head. His eyes darkened with my need. Leaving him with a taste of the way I was feeling right now, I stepped closer to him.

"Screw. Dad. Let me deal with him. You should have your hands full with me right now."

He was still hesitating. I wanted to scream.

"Jacob Black, so help me, I have been waiting for months for you to wake up. I love you. I want you.

"Why the hell is this so complicated?"

Watching every muscle in his body tense, I lost all patience. Obviously subtle was not working here. He wanted me to tell him what I wanted, fine. I'd tell him exactly what I wanted.

"We are going to leave my parents to break their headboard, or whatever it is they do while the rest of us are sleeping. You're going to take me back to your house. You're going to kick Seth out. And then you're going to keep me very busy for the rest of the night. Got it?"

Giving him time to argue was a lost cause. So I kissed him. And finally, finally, he stopped thinking about my dad.

Somehow, we made it back to his house. Somehow, his wordless growl communicated everything Seth needed to know about getting out the door. Somehow, my burning body didn't burst into flame. I was soaring, letting fire burn its slow way through my body. Everything I saw, everything I felt, was Jake.

Life had never felt so right.

When, eventually, sleep became an inescapable reality, it was with his body curled around mine, his chest to block the light streaming through his bedroom window, his eyes looking down at me like I was the only thing in the world.

* * *

Promises to Jake were almost always easily kept. Dealing with my father alone was the rare exception. After last night, though, it seemed a small price to pay.

I left while Jake was in the shower, leaving a note on his bed telling him I'd be back later. Hopefully he'd stay away for a little while. I wanted to do this myself.

From the minute I opened the door, it was obvious he knew. Uncle Em was whistling off-key. He winked at me as the door shut and informed me that I stank like a dog. Aunt Alice shook her head at me, probably frustrated that my in-and-out future had vanished for most of last night. Uncle Jazz just smiled, put an arm around his wife and told me Dad was upstairs.

I have seen my father angry only a few times, but, like Jake, I had never seen him angry at me. Squaring my shoulders, I crossed my arms and waited in the doorway of the room he and Mom used while they were staying with Grandma and Grandpa.

"Dad?"

He was alone. Thankfully, I didn't have to deal with two angry parents at once.

"We were worried about you." His voice was light. I was totally unconvinced.

"Dad, it's okay." I hesitated, nervous. "I know…you…know." My friends thought it was bad when their parents heard about them hooking up. They had no idea how embarrassing it was to know that your father could see every single detail. My face flushed a vibrant red.

He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. There were moments when it was a little strange, hearing a father's exasperated sigh come out of the body of someone who looked my age. Then he opened his mouth, and there was no mistaking him for anything other than a harassed parent.

"Renesme, sneaking out of the house is unacceptable. Going from a party to spending the night at Jacob's without telling us…what were you thinking?"

"You should know that Dad." I smiled. "Not much, really. Teenage rebellion right?"

His face was torn between amusement and anger. Luckily for me, he never stayed angry long.

"I should be used to Jacob's…vivid images by now," he said, half to himself. I let the comment drop. Just because my parents approved of Jake, didn't mean they always liked him. Better to let all the…well, sleeping dogs lie.

"Lay off Jake." I crossed my arms. "It's my fault anyway."

He did laugh at that. "You and your mother." I didn't ask him to elaborate about that either, though I had a pretty good idea what he meant.

"Does she know?" I asked.

"Of course." There was a faint note of surprise in his voice that I would even ask that. My parents were worse than any high school couple, honeymooners and melodramatic romantic movies combined. It would have been adorable, except that they were my parents. Which just made it awkward and a little embarrassing.

That led my mind down a whole different track, which I followed. My dad turned his back, raking a hand through his hair, the way he always did when he didn't quite know what he should do. It was only seconds before I spoke again.

"Dad…" I hesitated. "You're not going to like this….but I have a question." I hadn't even asked Jake about this. Somehow, I didn't think he'd have a problem with it.

He raised one eyebrow. "I'm listening."

I bit my lip, hesitating. "CanImoveinwithJake?"

The absolute stillness of his entire body was, I reflected, not a good sign. But he didn't say anything.

"Dad, I know you and Mom want your…space. And believe me, I want you to have your privacy too. Please. You know Jake'll take care of me. Seth lives there too, at least right now. And I'm growing up." The pleading notes in my voice were slightly embarrassing but altogether inevitable. "I'm not a child, Dad. I don't think I ever was. I love you and Mom and Aunt Rose and Uncle Em and Uncle Jazz and Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Alice…but I need my space, at least," I amended. "For a little while. I won't be far." He still hadn't moved. "Please, Daddy."

Almost before I noticed it, his arms were around me, and his lips were on my forehead. "If that's what will make you happy, Nessie." His arms held me almost painfully close. I rested my head on his shoulder.

"I love you Daddy."

His chest started moving with laughter, and I looked up suspiciously. "What?"

The crooked grin that spread across his face was unsympathetic and unapologetic. "You can tell your mother."

* * *

Author's Note: Review please! Questions, comments appreciated.

Something occurred to me as I was writing this…how awkward would it be to know that your mom made out with your boyfriend? Or worse…that your boyfriend wanted to have sex with your mom?

And we all know that Nessie's friends would have the hots for Edward. Who can blame them?

Possibly more coming, depending on the reviews I get. So please, please, please review.


	2. Twenty Questions

Back for round two!! Thank you all so much for your reviews- y'all are so sweet!

Disclaimer: None of it's mine, though if Jake ever wanted to volunteer to wake me up, even though I'm a dedicated member of Team Edward, I would be happy to take one for the team.

* * *

Lips brushed my collarbone, continuing up my neck and along the curve of my jaw. I sighed and snuggled closer into the sheets and my very warm pillow.

Saturday. I could stay in bed all day.

"Mmm you need to stop doing that," Jake growled into my neck.

I giggled. "Why?" I snuggled in closer again, my back pressed up against his bare chest.

"Because if you keep doing that you will never get out of this bed." Arms tightened around my stomach.

Didn't he realize that was exactly the plan?

"Oh."

He knew that tone in my voice. "Nessie, don't even…"

"You mean this?" I tangled my mind with his and he groaned.

"That's it."

The giggles rolled out of my throat as he shifted his long body over mine. Reaching for him, I pressed my lips to his, tangling my hands in his hair. Later, I would plead innocent to my hips rising off the bed, my arms pulling him down. Now, I was matter over mind, succumbing to the sweetest addiction I knew.

It was over an hour before I got up to take a shower, and an hour after than when I had to go take another shower. This time, when I came back, Jake had already gone to use Seth's shower, since Seth was thankfully out running.

Seth and I had had a few awkward run-ins in the week I'd been living with him and Jake. I was pretty sure Seth had seen more of me than he ever wanted to. Then again, it wasn't like he wouldn't have seen it anyway. Jake probably cared more than I did what Seth walked in on.

Ignoring the clothes I had moved in here except the lingerie I was quickly running out of, no thanks to Jake, I instead stole a big shirt out of Jake's stuff. It didn't smell like him; I frowned. He needed to start wearing actual clothes, except for the gross sweatpants he threw on after running.

Maybe if he pissed me off, I'd send Aunt Alice after him.

Jake was in the kitchen, making scrambled eggs out of the half-dozen eggs left in the carton. I wrinkled my nose at the smell, taking his free hand to wrap his arm around my waist.

He kissed the top of my head. "We can go hunting later."

The kiss hid the smile that curved my lips.

"And I like you in my shirts."

As always, my gaze flicked from his eyes to his abs and slowly back up. Around Jake, my abilities to look face-wards were worse than those of most teenage boys. But he was all mine, so it was okay.

"I like you out of them." My finger traced lightly down the line of his six pack.

He leaned down and put his lips to my ear.

"I like you out of them too."

He never failed to make the bottom of my stomach drop out. "Anytime." Including now.

To my disappointment, he just kissed me on the forehead. "You're meeting Bella at one."

I looked up at the clock. 12:16.

"It's weird that you're friends with my parents." Watching him scramble his giant mountain of eggs, I sat up on the counter. "How'd you all meet again?"

I knew Jake well enough to see his eyes get more than a little bit guarded. There had always been a story there. I knew they'd all known each other years before I had shown up. But where most kids hear over and over the story of how their parents got together, I had barely heard the abbreviated version more than once, and I had no idea where Jake fit into the picture except that he was just there.

I wasn't stupid. There was obviously something no one was telling me. It was just…I didn't want to ask. I didn't want to know about Jake's former girlfriends, even though he said he hadn't had any, or something creepy like him and my mom playing in the sandbox together as kids.

When he didn't say anything aside from a forced laugh, I put a hand on his shoulder. "Jake."

The carefully blank look he gave me scared me. I hadn't brought this up in years. Now, I wished I hadn't.

"Jake, just tell me."

His gaze dropped to the eggs.

The hand on his shoulder made it easy to repeat my words without saying anything. I hopped off the counter, grabbing a plate and holding it for the eggs he piled on it. While he took the plate, I went and go the ketchup from the fridge. "I'm a big girl. I can handle it."

I led him to the table that sat awkwardly in the just-wide-enough hallway between the kitchen and the cramped living room. Dad and Grandpa had offered a million times to give Jake and Seth the cash to get a better place, but they had refused just as many times. The table had seen better days, and I wondered whether they might be willing to accept a table-sized May Day present.

The ketchup bottle hit the table with a thud that literally shook the table and I dropped into one of the mismatched chairs with folded arms. Jake sat a little more slowly, his gaze fixed worriedly on my face.

"New game," I said calmly. "Twenty questions."

He attempted a smile. "I like the other games you come up with better."

Boys. Even their bad jokes are about sex. On the other hand, once they have it…you can withhold it.

"Fine." I shrugged. "I'll ask Mom. Easy enough. She'd love for me to spend the night there."

Jake tried to hide the sudden recalculating he was doing, but he failed miserably. My smirk was much better hidden. Boys, no matter what funky things are going on with their chromosomes, are so predictable.

"Twenty questions?" He definitely didn't sound like he liked this idea. Good thing I didn't care.

"Twenty," I confirmed. My chair tilted back shakily, resting against the wall.

He groaned. "Fine. Just promise you won't hate me."

My stomach lurched uncomfortably, and I really hoped I wasn't going to end up regretting this. "Jake, I love you. Nothing's going to change that."

For an awful moment, it almost felt like I was trying to reassure myself.

"Okay." He shoveled a forkful of eggs and ketchup into his mouth.

I took a deep breath and gave Jake a small smile. He looked a little like he was waiting for an axe to fall. "Easy first. Who'd you lose it to?" I figured for the moment, I'd keep it away from me.

He rolled his eyes. "A girl from the rez. Right after I got back from Canada. I wanted to see…" He broke off, unwilling to finish the thought.

"You were in Canada?"

His grin was a little lopsided. "Is that a question?"

I made a face at him. "No." It was still weird that he'd never told me he'd been to Canada, except for our drive up here, with him behind the wheel of Mom's car. If I had questions left, I could always ask him later.

This time, the question hurt a little more to ask. "Had you ever, like…you know…fallen in love…before, umm, me?" I studied my nails, unwilling to look at his face.

The breath that came out of him with an audible exhale only made my shoulders tense. I had known this was a bad idea.

"Not like it is with you."

I had a way out and I refused to take it. There was no way I could live not knowing. "When?"

"It was before you were born." The words came out of him in a rush. "It was stupid and it was nothing, nothing, like the way I love you. God, if you understood Nessie…don't ask me."

The word was already on my lips. "Who?"

The fork was set on the side of his plate with a click. I couldn't look at him.

"Bella Swan."

For a second, that didn't sink in. It was the last name, I think. She was always Bella Cullen to me.

Before I realized what he'd said, I was on my feet. The chair hit the ground in a clatter of fake wood.

"You were in love with _my mother_?!"

The look on his face made my heart hurt. "Ness…I'm sorry, it was a long time ago, I was stupid, we _never_ dated, and from the minute I met you it's been different. I love you, Nessie." The last words were a plea, a promise.

My mind was going in a hundred directions at once. Every time he had expected me to flip out, I had been calm. Imprinting, I had taken in stride. Sex, obviously, had just been his pet worry. My parents rarely even threw me.

But this?

"Did you fucking kiss my _mom_? Oh God." I didn't want to ask the question. "Did you…" I couldn't ask it. It didn't matter, he knew what I meant.

Slowly, he got to his feet, moving towards me one even step at a time. "Nessie. Nessie, it doesn't matter."

"Oh God." My voice broke off in a sob. "You did, didn't you? Oh my God. Don't!" I jerked away from the hand that was gently brushing hair out of my face. "Don't touch me."

He looked completely shattered, just standing there in the middle of his kitchen as I backed slowly away from him.

"I'm going to the house." My hand fell on the doorknob. "Please, don't follow me."

Before he could say anything, I was running. It is hard for me to push myself to a point where I feel pain from physical exertion, but I pushed until the cold Alaska air burnt my throat and scorched the inside of my lungs and my muscles started to cramp. If my feet hadn't been tougher than any human skin, I don't want to think about the state they would have been when I stopped, panting, in the Cullen front yard.

It was every girl's worst nightmare, to find out about some gorgeous ex-girlfriend who their boyfriend is still best friends with. But to find out that it's their inhumanely beautiful, unnaturally graceful, eternally eighteen mother?

That transcends nightmare all together.

The thought of them together made me want to vomit. God, the thought of him touching her like he touched me, looking at her the way I always caught him looking at me…

I'd thought it was just for me.

Asshole.

There are some advantages, I guess, to having a mindreading dad. Never, had I appreciated them more than I did at that moment. There was no need to replay the scene over breakfast, no need to put into words everything that was whirring through my head.

I saw her coming out of the house at a speed only slightly faster than human. That was probably good; if I hadn't had a chance to cool down before she was within striking distance, one of us would be nursing a bruise tomorrow. Probably me.

"Nessie?" Her voice carried across the yard. I could see Dad in the doorway, watching the two of us. "Nessie, I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" My voice rose in indignant disbelief. "You fuck my boyfriend and all you can say is you're _sorry?_"

I could see my dad bristling in the doorway at the images playing themselves out unwillingly in my mind. Let him.

"Nessie, you haven't heard the whole story, if you'd let me explain…"

"Explain? What is there to fucking explain? You slept with Jake!"

"No." My mom shook her head, folding her arms over the old Dartmouth sweatshirt she'd stolen out of my dad's closet forever ago. Aunt Alice would have a fit. "Nessie, come in, warm up, put some clothes on." She held her hand out to me. "Then we can talk."

All of a sudden, the last thing I wanted to do was take off Jake's old, gross shirt that didn't even smell like him. It was his, it marked me as _his_, no matter what anyone said.

But my freezing feet would not be ignored.

I ran past my mom and into my dad's arms, colliding with him with a force that would have knocked any human over. He just wrapped his arms around me and let me bury my face in his shirt.

"Yes." He answered my unspoken question. "I knew too."

If I could have cried, I would have been sobbing.

Half an hour later, after a hot shower, I was calm enough to sit on the floor of the living room across from my mother, sipping at a bag of donated blood someone had left stashed in the fridge for me. Normally, human blood was a treat I hadn't gotten since I was a baby. Now, I could hardly taste it.

Mostly, I was just tempted to spill it all over the shirt of Jake's I was still wearing over a pair of jeans.

It was oddly comforting that, the entire time I had been in the house, my parents had been a package deal. Even now, my dad was standing behind my mom's chair. At least there was no reason for Jake to think he could go back.

"I moved to Forks my junior year." Mom's voice was low. "The memories are…distant now. But Jake was one of the first people I met."

It was like watching an impending collision as I listened: I didn't want to see what was coming, but I couldn't drag myself away. I had never heard this story in its entirety before. So I listened as Mom talked about meeting my dad in Biology class, about finding out their secret from Jake inadvertently. My dad's hand moved to her shoulder when she started to talk about my dad leaving and Jake stepping in to be her best friend.

It hurt listening to her talk about him long before I had even been a possibility. Listening to her relate all the ways that her life could have proceeded so that I never happened. It hurt even more, knowing that all of those ways would have ended with her with Jake. The worst part, though, was knowing that if it hadn't been for my dad, that very well might have happened. Knowing how hard Jake had fought for my mom.

By the time she stopped, my stomach had twisted in on itself. Despite the fresh, human, B-negative blood in my hands, I had no appetite. A little bit of blood was drying on my lower lip, but I made no move to wipe it away. The image just kept running through my head. Jake, my Jacob, kissing my mother.

From the look on his face, my dad didn't exactly love the image either. Evidently, it was still a bit of a sore subject in the Cullen household.

My parents were looking at each other in silent communication. Jake and I could do that, the whole 'married couple' conversation in monosyllables at best. My dad shook his head in a miniscule gesture.

"What?"

They both turned to look at me, surprise on my mother's face, resignation on my dad's.

"What aren't you telling me?" I had to know. It was going to haunt me either way.

"I know, Nessie." The look on my dad's face had shifted to sympathy.

"It has nothing to do with Jake, Nessie." There was a pleading note in his voice. "Is that enough?"

There was a part of me that wanted to know what it was they wouldn't tell me, a part that needed to know. But most of me was too exhausted to hear anymore.

"One moment." Dad had obviously heard someone. He kissed my mother on the forehead and moved to the door. Her eyes followed him out, a clear affirmation of the whole 'package deal' thing I had noticed earlier. There was no separating them. Now I just had to see what that meant to Jake.

I wondered idly if they realized at the door that I could hear them. The door opened, and before that quiet ambient sound had finished, the sound of Jake's voice broke in.

"Edward, you have to help me, I messed up."

My dad was less audible, but his tone was calm.

"Look, I know she's angry, and I don't care, I have to see her." He paused. "I don't care what you and Bells want to say to her, she's mine, Edward."

Bells. My stomach twisted again, painfully.

Jake kept talking. "This time, you can't win. This time, no one is going to step in between me and the woman I love more than anything else, because as hard as you think I fought before it is nothing, _nothing_, to the way I'd fight for Ness. Not unless she wants to leave. And if she left, I'd wait for her, wait for whatever jerk-off she ended up with to leave, and then I'd still be there, waiting."

My dad tried to say something and Jake cut him off.

"Cullen, I don't care what you have to say, get Bells out of there and let me see Nessie."

I had never heard Jake talk to Dad like that, not when Uncle Em had almost let me get lost in the woods, not when I'd refused to see him for three days after my mom explained the differences between boys and girls, not when he'd thrown a fit after a boy tried to kiss me on my third day of normal high school.

"Nessie?" My dad was standing barely an arm's length away from me. "Do you want to talk to him? I can make him leave if you don't."

Slowly, I shook my head. "I should see him."

He picked me up, setting me on my feet with a kiss on the top of my head, the way he had when I was little. "He loves you."

I nodded. "I know, Daddy."

My steps towards the door were slow and measured, taking my time to traverse the living room. I wanted to see him. I couldn't look at him.

Just before I turned the corner into the short front hall, I looked back over my shoulder to see my mom curled in my dad's arms. The guilt I felt at her head buried in his shoulder was worse than anything Jake could do.

Before I knew it, I was at her side, dropping to my knees to wrap my arms around her waist.

"Love you, Mom."

And I did. Beyond whatever she had done, whatever choices she had made, I was here now. She was my mother and I loved her, just like she had always loved me.

Her body turned away from my dad, and one hand wrapped itself in my hair. For a moment, we were a perfect statue of a perfect family.

Everyone's got their issues, right?

When I turned around, he was standing in the doorway, his eyes burning into me where I stood. Me. Not my mom, not my dad. Me. The focus in his gaze made me feel like we were the only people in the room. And the pain in his eyes…god, the pain in his eyes hurt me, more than anything he had ever said. Any anger I still held vanished in the face of that tortured gaze.

Before anyone could say anything, I moved across the room and jumped into his arms, wrapping my limbs around him. The only thing I could feel was his hesitation and my heart stopped. Then his face was buried in my neck, his arms holding me so tightly it hurt and my world was righted again.

"I love you." He murmured it over and over again into my skin. "I love you."

We could talk through this later. Right now, the only thing that mattered was that I believed him. I loved him.

For once, when he kissed me, my dad didn't say anything.

* * *

_One week later_

I knew, the minute I saw the Porsche in my school parking lot, that there would be trouble. Only a few people at my school owned expensive cars. Aunt Rose made sure that no one owned cars like ours. From before I could remember, I could identify the purr of any Cullen motor from the drone of your average automobile.

I know, I'm a bit of a snob.

I'm also the only person at my school who has shopped in Paris and Singapore and London and New York City. But that's Aunt Alice's fault. I've accumulated a whole closet full of cocktail dresses I don't ever wear. Something about being the first person in the family to enjoy being dressed up.

But back to the Porsche. Though I recognized the Cullen motor, I didn't recognize the car. That wasn't entirely unusual, again thanks to Rose. It was unusual, however, for anyone other than Jake to pick me up at school.

I peered up at the clouds with a scowl. Whoever it was, my classmates would flock, leaning against the sides of the car, giggling and flirting.

Catching sight of the figure standing next to the car, I almost groaned. The girl walking next to me stiffened.

"Is that your brother?"

Fuck.

I forced a smile. "Yeah. Don't know why he's picking me up. Guess Jake's busy." I wondered idly how Seth was getting home. Maybe he'd be willing to give me a ride. Things had been strained with my parents ever since I'd moved out. Mom had pretended to be cool about it, but I could tell she wasn't exactly thrilled.

"Ness!" There was a question in my dad's eyes that I didn't think anyone else would hear. He knew I wasn't happy to see him.

"Hey." I shifted my bag on my shoulder, keeping my steps even, but not too, quiet, but not silent, and slow. Especially, slow.

His eyes narrowed as he sorted through the questions in my head. _Where was Jake? What are you doing here? Watch out for the girls, _and, grudgingly, _Nice car._

"Edward!" One of the girls walking near me had smiled, and was smoothing hair behind her ear as she added a bit of sway to her hips. It had the high school boys behind us drooling. It had absolutely no effect on my dad. "How's college?"

He smiled politely. I knew that smile. It was the same one that he had used around Jake the last few weeks. "Enjoyable." He continued pointedly, "Bella and I have the opportunity to spend more time together."

The girl's smile faded a little, remembering my many forceful reminders that my 'brother' had a girlfriend who he was completely devoted to. If she was hoping for a break up, I wondered if she realized she'd be waiting for a while.

I really wanted to get out of here. "Can we go?" I lifted my backpack into the backseat through the open roof. Even now, I couldn't help drooling a little. Convertibles were my weakness. "Homework."

He knew it was bullshit, but he shrugged anyway. Politely ignoring the crowd he had attracted, he got into the driver's seat, starting the engine with a purr. The car zipped out of the parking lot, at a slow 60 once we got onto the road. I didn't bother buckling my seatbelt. The thing was useless. My head tilted back, letting the wind run its fingers through my hair, trailing over the skin of my face.

"Why'd you pick me up?" I asked, not opening my eyes. "Like meeting my friends?" My hand touched his on the gearshift, lightly teasing him with the image of my easily excited classmates.

"Please, Nessie." His voice was almost exasperated. But not quite. "Are you certain you are spending time with the right people? They seem…" He searched for the words. "Friendly."

I laughed. "Nice, Dad. I know they were all waiting on the edge of their seats to hear if you and Mom broke up yet."

He shook his head. "As I said."

"Trust me, Dad." I looked out the window, communicating my way. I showed him my role in the group, the quiet mediator, guaranteed to never go after the guy who'd broken your heart, the way I was always just a little on the outside, leaving them after school for Jake and my family. The boys had gotten the hint a long time ago.

"That does not mean they don't want what they can't have," he told me.

I rolled my eyes. "And you really think I can't take care of myself." The image of Jake beating up on a high school kid wasn't even funny enough to consider provoking some of the more obnoxious ones.

It was time to change the subject, so I went back to wondering about the car. The smile that spread over my dad's face was genuine this time.

"Now that you live with Jake, you need some way of getting back and forth."

It took barely a minute for those words to process, before I was running my hand along the bottom of the open window. Even Aunt Rose didn't have a better car than this.

"And yes, Aunt Rose helped with the engine."

Like I couldn't hear the difference.

All of a sudden, my heart sank. Not officially existing made it a little difficult to get a driver's license. How, exactly, I was enrolled in public school was still a mystery to me. I suspected it had to do with large amounts of cash.

Without taking his foot off the accelerator, Dad reached into his pocket, hanging me a small laminated card. My fingers closed around it, and had I not been used to our rather unorthodox lifestyle, my jaw would have dropped.

Where the hell did he get a fake ID this good?

"Uncle Jasper has a friend," was all Dad would say. I had a feeling this was one of those 'we'll tell you when you're older' things.

I didn't really care. I had, in my hand, a driver's license with my full name that would tell anyone who asked that I was seventeen and legally licensed to drive.

So that's why Uncle Emmet had been giving me secret driving lessons in the driveway lately. At least, they were as secret as anything in our house ever was. Jake was the only one left out of this particular gag. I knew he'd be furious if I'd told him. He worried too much.

Didn't have to worry anymore. I ran my fingers lovingly over the dash.

_Thank you Daddy._

He laughed. "You're welcome."

I looked up at him suspiciously. "Is this a bribe?"

Not that it really mattered. If bribes came in this form, I was more than willing to be bought off.

He just laughed. And so did I.

At my unspoken request, we pulled over. Then, it was my foot on the accelerator, pushing 90, as we zoomed for home.

* * *

Author's Note:

So what did you guys think? Please review—the feedback I got back on the first chapter was the reason I write, and the best gift you as reviewers could ever give me!

I was seriously considering having Bella and Edward tell Nessie about the…dramatic circumstances surrounding her birth. But then I decided she didn't need to live with the knowledge that she, effectively, killed her mother.

There's more moments in the life of Nessie turning themselves over in the back of my head, so if you review…who knows. There might be a chapter three. So far we've hit three major milestones: finding out her boyfriend had a thing for her mom (creepy), the happy fun between the sheets times with Jake and the car. Which, really, aside from the hot men is the best part about being a Cullen.


End file.
